Gladiator II

To hell with your 6.6 IMDB!

I was way more invested and entertained in this movie! Set just 16 years after the first film we follow a soldier from Numidia named Hanno who has a proper revenge hard on for roman general Acacius after being defeated and put up as human livestock in the Colosseum, but what I like about this movie so much is as the plot progresses almost every main player in the story changes and holds different amounts of power. Paul Mescal is a fierce lead and to see the shift from soldier to slave to revolutionary is gratifying to watch and he does not hold back on the physicality or the emotion, taking the flaws of Maximus from the first film and swiftly remedying it. Denzel Washington as new gladiator conossieur Macrinus is easily the best character in the movie for my money, and you can tell Denzel is relishing this role and to see his political machinations grow and grow was super engaging for me. Of course our daddy of daddies Pedro Pascal is present and unfortunately he's not in the movie much and has only a smudge of stuff to do, an honorable roman he is and my God what a commanding voice he has in this movie so it was great to see him in something until I'm probably nearing the end of my rope and Mando hits the big screen. Connie is back and her storyline adds some dimension to the film and honestly she acts even better than the first film, and sweet Christmas has that woman even aged a friggin' day?? Incredible. I'm not entirely sure if Rome ever had two emperors cause that is a fascinating detail of history never disclosed to me, but the combined performances of Joseph and Fred while surprisingly more in the background were just that right amount of batshit and hedonistic, they did do proper good work but if you ever want a proper piece on emperors I would point to I Claudius or...Caligula if you're not a prude. Production wise it's definitely surpassed the first Gladiator obviously with advancements due to the 24 year gap in filmmaking, the sets and costuming are great, they knew how to up the ante in the Colosseum (even if probably not entirely accurate to history I loved it anyway), there's more political intrigue, the score is decent, the editing has thankfully calmed the hell down, and I easily can say this is one of those sequels that outdoes the first! May be blasphemy, may be heresy, but call me a fan of the sequel! I kind of feel like an ass honestly for not seeing it in the theater, and my main reasoning for not was well I haven't seen the first and while elements of the plot are brought up here you really genuinely can watch this and not miss much and still enjoy it. So I apologize right now for that blunder, this was a very very good film! 3.5 stars from me, 8.5/10, and next week is time at last.

A Quiet Place Day One

Okay what the fuck, it was actually good??

In fact if I'm being completely honest with you, it's...kinda amazing. I'm almost stunned shitless writing that but it's true! Like every single aspect just about is exponentially improved over the last two films, now the only thing I truthfully want from this series is I wanna know where and how the aliens got here to Earth. Probably the only person who wants that but I'm curious damn it! But the story here and more importantly how that story is told, if you cut out the monsters this could be a hardcore heartfelt drama! I'm so not even kidding, this film sucker punched me right in the feels and I was so on board before even the first 5 minutes. We follow Sam a young woman who unfortunately is in Hospice care when the event occurs as she makes the decision to trek to Harlem for pizza, finally a goal and direction(!), and she eventually meets a young man named Eric who I think is pretty firmly on the spectrum as they sneak and avoid the creatures in the city that never sleeps. It may seem quite humorous that the endgame is New York pizza and it is a little funny but shit, that is something I can 1000% get behind and the character moments we get from point A to B almost at times make you forget you are watching A Quiet Place. I'm so not even kidding, this is an emotionally investing film and I tell you now without witness and without reward that this damn movie made me cry. The tears welled up in my eyes and a few rolled down my cheeks, I won't spoil it but it was ridiculously sweet and endearing. I can't remember the last time I saw horror movie characters I cared about so strongly, just the performances from Lupita (I love that girl to bits!) and Joseph (whoa dude you were good!) my God they were acting their hearts out here. Marvellous news everyone! The cat is fine, in fact this was one of the most intuitive cats I've ever seen in storytelling and knowing cats can't be trained at flippin' all, congrats to the film crew for making it happen! Shock of all shocks though, no stupid nonsense to behold in this movie it's pretty rock solid from start to finish. Either that or I was so emotionally invested and entertained that I didn't notice. Perhaps I've jumped dimensions once more because this is unbelievable. It was so damn good, no scratch that it was great! I'm still reeling from that fact but whoever it was that answered my prayer for a good movie, just know I said thanks and I'll buy you lunch! Pizza on me. No horseshit Jack. See it, just go see it. Maybe bring some earplugs though cause the theater I went to see it at every loud noise was like a fucking landmine going off, shockwave included, and the movie indulges in some jumpscare tactics so brace for impact if you go over the weekend! So yeah all time high for the week, two big thumbs up from me, 4 stars, 9/10! And we get to revisit and experience the end of one of the strangest yet grand horror trilogies next week.